Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are scheduled to sign a U.S.-brokered peace agreement in Washington on Friday, aiming to end years of conflict and pave the way for billions of dollars in foreign investment in the region.
President Donald Trump will host the foreign ministers of the two countries in the Oval Office after the official signing in the State Department, News.Az reports citing The National.
"They were fighting for years, and it was machetes, it was vicious, people's heads were being chopped off," Mr Trump said in a news conference on Friday.
"And I have a man who's very good in that part of the world, very smart, and put them together," he said. "First time in many years, they're going to have peace. And it's a big deal."
Mr Trump had enlisted the help of Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and the father-in-law of the President's daughter Tiffany.
Qatar also joined in mediating the process.
Born in Lebanon, Mr Boulos has ties to Africa, having lived and owned businesses in Nigeria. Last month, Mr Boulos said Congo and Rwanda had submitted a draft peace proposal.
The agreement would bring to an end a three-decade conflict in eastern Congo which escalated earlier this year, when the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the key cities of Goma and Bukavu.
The fighting has killed about 3,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.
The DRC, United Nations and the US have long accused Rwanda of providing M23 rebels weapons and training.
Rwanda has long denied supporting M23, and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and Hutu militias linked to the Rwandan genocide of ethnic Tutsis in 1994.
The conflict is fuelled by the rich mineral resources in eastern Congo.
Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. The country also has substantial gold, diamond and copper reserves.
M23 and Rwanda being accused of exploiting these resources.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that the DRC had dropped its demand for the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops, paving the way for the peace deal.
Few details have been made available about the deal, or the economic incentives involved, as Mr Trump seeks to compete with China in investing in the region's abundant mineral wealth.
